Memoirs of a Gay Boy: Fire Emblem Style
by Oriel Kurosaki
Summary: Zero, a bisexual boy from the U.S. gets transported into Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. YAOI! Maybe off break...we'll see.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, or anything that I make references to...And I swear a _lot_, so get used to it. SEXUAL CONTENT IN MOST CHAPTERS, AS WELL AS YAOI! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

This story is for Zero. I love you, my Fab Second.

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"_Ohhhh_…Zero!" the spiky haired blond moaned. I laughed and nipped his ear, earning another groan.

My hand strayed up his shirt, brushing sensitive skin, and he gasped. I was about to start getting serious when a large hand clamped down on my arm. Glancing over my shoulder, I found my History teacher, Mr. Watson glaring down at me. I sighed and rolled my eyes, retracting my hand and turning to face the angry man behind me.

"Hey, Mr. W. What's up?" I asked, pushing my mop of black hair out of my eyes.

"In school suspension. Now. And I don't ever want to see something like this again, young man." the fat, balding, bazillion year old man growled.

I smiled and nodded. "Go ahead and go to class, Danny."

"Are you sure, Zero?" my current boy-toy asked, glancing at the teacher behind me.

I shoved him in the right direction and started making my way toward the detention room. Mr. Watson only followed me far enough to make sure that I made it to my destination before branching off and heading back to his classroom. The little room I sauntered into was empty, so I pulled six chairs together and stretched out over them, pillowing my head on my arm and glaring angrily at my dick. It always got me in trouble.

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Ahhhh, Z, I really do love you...

If you want more, comment. XD


	2. Chapter 1

Lalala...first actual chapter! Zero was mean...but now it's out! Yay!

I don't own anything, blah blah blah, please review/give ideas!

::Zero races into the room:: "THE NEW CHAPTER IS OUT!!!! FINALLY!"

Me: "Jeez, it hasn't been that long...give me a freakin break..."

Z: NO WAY. IF I DID, YOU'D NEVER GET AROUND TO WRTING ANYTHING!"

Me: "Hmmm...I guess that's true...T.T" ::crys::

Z: "DON'T CRY! i'm soooorrrryyy..."::also crys::

Me: "Please enjoy!"

* * *

"Who're you?" 

I yawned and rolled over, my back complaining and my mind still clouded with sleep. It was only when I realized that I was lying in the middle of a field did I come fully awake.

"What the fuck?" I shouted scrambling to my feet and looking around.

Turning, I came face to face with a red haired man who was right out of "The Lord of the Rings". He was decked out in red armor that matched his hair and had a large axe strapped to his back. I just stood there in front of him, staring like an idiot with my mouth hanging open.

"Such a lack of respect," said the man, shaking his head. "Hear you're lucky that I didn't kill you on the spot for sleeping on our practice field, and you don't even thank me? What a tactless fool you are."

"What?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and trying to figure out exactly what was going on. "Who're you again? And where am I?"

"_I_ am Kieran, a royal knight of Crimea! And this," he said, gesturing around him, "This is the stronghold of the Greil Mercenaries! I will ask you again: Who're you?"

"Zero," I said, blinking at him. "I'm Zero. And I don't think I'm supposed to be here. I mean, I was just at school, and I fell asleep, but I was just dozing, and I don't know how I got here, and I think this is a huge mistake, but…" I trailed off, frowning. The last thing I remembered was dozing in the detention room. The only reasonable explanation for what was going on was that I was having a weird dream.

"You don't know where you are? Not at all? Then how'd you get here?" he asked, leaning on a wall and looking me over. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know, right?" I said, grinning. Kieran seemed to be serious, but every once in a while his speech would slip and he would sound like the young man he was.

"Well, then I might as well take you to Commander Ike. He can decide what to do with you." said the redhead, nodding decisively. "Come with me."

We snaked through a number of halls and passed a number of doors before walking into a room that was obviously the mess hall. There were about twenty people either sitting at the tables and eating or standing around talking. One of the people sitting to their right hailed my guide, who was distracted for a moment before turning to me.

"Here, take this." he said, giving me his axe. Then he pointed at someone to my right. "See that guy with the blue hair? Take this axe over to him and tell him that you're the new recruit. And tell him that Kieran needs a new axe."

I nodded, and the redhead headed toward the person who had called to him earlier. Sighing, I wandered over to the man that Kieran had pointed out and relayed my message to him. I could tell that he was the one in charge, just by watching the way he interacted with the people around him as I approached. He listened to me warily, giving me a hard look, which I returned.

_"You're_ a new recruit? Well…I guess we can use you, since we're understaffed right now. Please report to Soren; he'll take your measurements and find you some clothing." sighed the tall, blue-haired man, gesturing to a small, feminine man dressed in black. "And put that axe down. You're going to hurt yourself."

I grinned at him and set the axe down carefully before making my way over to Soren. He looked me over and grimaced. Friendly little bugger.

"Come with me." he said, turning and starting off down a side hall.

I looked him over as I trotted beside him. He looked to be about five foot five, give or take an inch. Snowy skin, ebony hair, ruby eyes, thin to the point of anorexia, dark robes: he looked like some fangirl's idea of a vampire. He would have been cute if he hadn't been radiating a cold aura that screamed "fuck off!"

"Is there something on my face?" he asked, suddenly snapping his red eyes to mine. I shook my head and grinned. "Then stop staring."

I laughed and he started walking faster, snorting in disgust. I decided to follow him the rest of the way, rather than walking beside him.

When we finally stopped, I found myself in a room full of clothing. My mild fetish for clothes decided to surface, and I started wandering around, running my hands over the rough fabrics.

"Hey, Soren, could I wear this?" I asked, picking up a sleeveless leather thing with laces all over it. It looked kinky.

The young man looked up from the bag he was rummaging through and stared at me, a flush creeping across his face.

"Idiot! That's a bodice!" he said, snatching it away from me and tossing it on a pile of clothes.

"This?" I asked, holding up what I took to be a pair of tight pants.

"And that," he said grabbing it and throwing it on top of the leather thing, "Is a pair of women's leggings.

I shrugged and reached for a length of black cloth, only to have my hand slapped away.

"Those are breast wraps. Stop touching things, fool, and let me measure you." he snapped, pulling out a length of twine and measuring my right arm with it.

As he did my measurements, I noticed how small he was. He barely came up to my shoulder, and was something like two-thirds my width. It's not like I'm huge or anything, he was just really, really tiny. He was almost like a girl, he was so small. A little fem. Total turn on. When he put his hand on my inner thigh to measure my leg, I bit my lip and thought of small dead animals and my grandmother to keep from having an insta-boner.

"What is your name?" he asked, the back of his hand brushing the crotch of my pants as he moved the string to my other leg.

"Z-Zero," I said, my voice sounding as if I had just snacked on a bowl of gravel. "Zero West."

Finally he finished his work and turned away from me. I heaved a sigh and began rooting around in the mound of clothes again, interested in my findings. I began humming to myself, wishing that I could have brought Danny along to take the edge off my sexual needs. By the looks of things in my new surroundings, the men were all totally hetero, which I found disappointing since I had seen quite a few who were totally my type.

"Here," said Soren, breaking into my mental pity-party. "These should fit you. Once we decide exactly what your fighting style is, I'll have some armor fitted to your measurements."

He tossed me a bundle of clothing and a pair of boots. Deciding to try them on, I pulled off my shirt and stepped out of my pants.

"What are you doing?!" Soren asked, looking anywhere but at my partially naked body. A blush had crept over his face, and I laughed a little.

"No big deal; we're both guys. I just want to try them on." I said, tugging my new pants on. They were made of a durable black fabric streaked with dark grey, the color of my shirt. I pulled on the shirt, too, and found that the outfit fit a lot better than I had thought it would. When I looked over at Soren, he was looking me over with a critical eye.

"They'll do for now." he sighed. "How about the boots?"

I tugged them on and wandered around the room, getting a feel of them. They were quite a bit too small, a complaint that I voiced.

"Well, take them off, then." Soren said, rolling his eyes as I complied. "Let me see your feet."

I parked it on the dirt floor and extended my foot in his direction. It surprised me a little bit when he sat on the floor in front of me; I hadn't thought of him as the type to get his clothes dirty. he grabbed my foot and began measuring it, all business.

"You have huge feet," he said, comparing it to his own. Even with his boot still on, my foot towered over his, which made me laugh.

"Maybe you just have tiny feet!" I laughed, grinning at him.

Frowning, he stood and brushed the dirt off his robes, obviously ignoring my smile.

"Come on. I'm taking you to Titania. She'll be able to figure out what type of fighting you're best suited for." he said. "I'll have to have a pair of boots made special, since you're feet are so big."

I nodded and followed him out of the fort. We had come back to the practice field that I had been found on, only now there were people swarming over it, brandishing swords, axes, and lances, among other things. They worked in pairs or by themselves, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Almost immediately I noticed Kieran, who sparring ruthlessly with a green-haired man on a horse. I stared to raise my hand to wave to him, but Soren slapped it down.

"Don't distract them." he snapped.

"Sorry." I said absently, looking hard him. "Soren, how do you fight? You're so tiny…"

"I'm a Sage. I cast spells, use magic. My size doesn't matter if no one can reach me." he said, looking around. Suddenly he raised his hand and shouted "Titania!"

"What's going on, Soren? Who's this?" asked a woman with a thick red braid slung over one shoulder. She got off her horse and leaned on the lance she was holding.

"Titania, meet Zero West. He's a new recruit, and I need you to figure out what to do with him while I find him a pair of boots." said the Sage, gesturing to my bare feet. "Zero, this is Titania. She's second in command, so be respectful."

The red-haired paladin smiled at me and we shook hands. I liked her right away, deciding that she seemed like a strong, smart woman. Soren glanced between us and, once the handshake ended, he turned and walked back to the fort.

"Don't mind him. He's really not as bad as he seems." my new friend said, shrugging. "So what kind of weapon would you like to try?"

I looked around the field, watching people practice. Kieran was still fighting the lance knight. A tiny girl dressed in purple read out of a yellow book, calling lightning to earth with a shower of sparks. A pair of teenage boys sparred nearby, one a red-headed fire mage, the other a knife wielder sporting a mop of green hair. A pair of huge men grappled next to them, both of whom had stripes of fur on their faces and tufted ears. The blunette he had talked to earlier was twirling a sword against a green haired man, who was wielding an axe. A pair of shadows passed over me, and I looked up to see two huge hawks sparring in the sky. A pair of archers below them sent volleys of arrows into targets on the opposite side of the field. Just watching it all was thrilling.

"I'd like to try...

(Message from author: You choose! Review and I might just have Z use your weapon choice!)

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hahahahaha! input, please! What should Zero do? lance, sword, axe??? input!!!!! 

thanx for reading, love you all! .X come and find me on myspace, and i'll add you!


	3. Chapter 2

Another chapter…yay! Lalala, paralyzed by the same old antics, back and forth like some walking spastics, how can a fist fight be romantic, thinkin' back now…lalala…Sorry, I got a new CD! A pair of green paperclips to the person who can tell me #1: the band #2: the CD! Thank you, Jair-bear! I am using your idea! I don't own, blah blah blah…

::Zero bursts into the room again::

Zero: WHAT DO I USE, WHAT DO I USE???!!!???

Me: Chill, Z, and read the fic yourself. ::sighs::

Zero: FINE! OOOHHHHH….I TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! GOODGOODGOOD::is happy and smiles::

Me: Yeah, I thought you'd say that…

Zero: BUT WHAT ABOUT ME AND SOREN?? I THOUGHT THIS WAS YAOI!!?? WHY AREN'T I SCREWING HIM YET??

Me::sighs and rubs eyes:: Chill. You'll get some eventually. This isn't a PWP; it's a real story, only with sex. You might not even get Soren. What if I put him with Oscar or something??

Zero: O.O ::whimpers:: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME::goes into a corner and cries::

Me::sighs again and rubs Z's back:: Shhh, it's okay. I promise you'll get some Soren action eventually. Just be patient. ::turns back to viewers:: Thanks for the support, everyone! Sorry that the fortress is a little OCC!

* * *

"I'd like to try a blade." I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Okay, that's fine. Do you have any experience?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm in the Kendo club back home, so I should be able to use a sword." I said. "And my grandfather taught me how to throw knives, too."

"Alright, then. Give me a minute to find you a sword and a pair of knives."

She jogged off into the swarm of practicing people and I looked at my surroundings. The fortress was huge, and looked a lot like the old Scottish castles that I had done a project on in seventh grade. It was pretty much a giant rectangle with a practice field in the center, complete with an old well. The walls were made of giant blocks of slate grey stone, held together with some sort of medieval cement. From what I had seen of the interior, it seemed that the eastern wall held the company's sleeping quarters, and the south wall the storage and meeting rooms, along with the mess hall and the kitchen. I hadn't gone through the western or northern walls yet, so what they held was a mystery. The practice field was nothing more than a huge square of scraggy grass that had seen too much wear.

"Hello!" said someone to my right, jarring me out of my survey of my new surroundings.

Turning, I found one of the archers standing in front of me. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen and had a lovely shock of light green hair. His wide smile and gentle face marked him as an open, kind kid, so I smiled back at him and greeted him in kind.

"I'm Rolf, and this is Shinnon." he said turning to gesture to the empty air behind him. "Wait, where'd he go?"

I laughed, and pointed at the other archer, who was just disappearing into the fort. "Your friend ditched you, dude."

"He does that a lot," sighed the boy. "I even told him that we should come and introduce ourselves to you…"

"It's no big deal," I said, grinning at him. "I'm Zero. It's nice to meet you, Rolf. You're an archer, yeah?"

His face brightened, and I knew I had picked the right topic for conversation. "Yeah! I'm going to be a sniper soon, too! Shinnon is helping me!"

"Awesome!" I said, laughing. "Could you show me how to do that?"

I pointed to his target, which was clustered with arrows.

"Yeah, sure! Let me go tell Titania where you're going, and then you can use my iron bow!" he said, turning and jogging into the crowd.

As he scooted away, I couldn't stop myself from letting my eyes stray to his ass. He was pretty darn fit for a little guy. Just as he disappeared from view, a hand tangled in my hair and wrenched me into a backbend. I was now looking up at the other archer's cold face. He had long, red hair, which was swept up into a ponytail.

"Hey, let go!" I snarled, angry at being forced into such an uncomfortable position.

"If you ever look at him like that again, I'll put an arrow right here," he said, jabbing me in the throat with his finger and sending me into a coughing fit.

Just as I was about to say something nasty in reply, the tall archer yanked my hair toward the ground and let go. I fell into an undignified heap and started coughing again. With a smile of grim satisfaction, the archer turned and walked away. A moment later, Rolf pulled me to my feet and dusted me off.

"What did you do to make him so angry?" asked the little archer.

"Don't worry about it." I sighed, rethinking my assumption that all of the Grail Mercenaries were hetero. "So, are you ready to let me try your bow?"

"Oh! Yes, here, use this." he said, handing me a bow.

We moved considerably closer to the target, so closet that all I had to do was shoot the thing straight and it was bound to hit it. Rolf spent the next fifteen minutes teaching me how to stand, hold the bow, draw the string, sight down the arrow, and fire into the target. When I finally managed to hit the target twice, Rolf clapped me on the back and stepped away.

"Give it a shot on your own, Zero!" he said, giving me a double thumbs-up.

I returned his gesture and, grinning, pulled the sting back to my ear. Just as my fingers were leaving the string, Soren raced across the field in front of the targets, heading towards something I couldn't see. At the last moment, I jerked the bow, causing the string to rip along my left forearm. The recoil caused the arrow to fly wide of the little Sage, who turned to look at me after the arrow whizzed by his head.

"Shit!" I said as he approached, my shoulders sagging in relief. "I could have shot you!"

Soren just stared at me, his red eyes wide. His face went even whiter than usual, and he pointed to my left arm, stuttering. "Y-your….your arm…"

"Goddess!" said Rolf, running up to me. "Look what you did to your arm!"

I looked down at my arm and started. The entire inside of my forearm, from my wrist to my elbow, had been laid open by the bowstring. I hadn't even been aware of the pain until I looked at the wound. Sinking to my knees, I held the bloody mess to my shirt, hoping to stop the blood.

"Someone get Rhys!" I heard Rolf scream. "Someone get a healer!"

I saw a red haired man in white and blue robes running towards me, but then something blocked my vision. Soren was kneeling by me, and now he was gently pulling my injured arm away from my blood-soaked shirt. His left hand held my ruined arm firmly over his lap, and his strength surprised me when I tried to pull away from him. In his right hand was something that glowed with a faint blue light. He held the something over my arm, and the light became too strong to look at directly. I closed my eyes, and blacked out for a moment.

When I came back to myself, there was a small group of people clustered around me. I was flat out on my back, and my arm was still in Soren's lap. It was completely healed. Looking around, I saw Kieran and his dueling partner, the blunette commander and _his_ dueling partner, the red haired man I had seen running, Rolf, Shinnon, and Titania. Rolf was clinging to the older archer, tears on his face, and Shinnon was saying something in a low voice.

"Look, he's awake!" said the commander's dueling partner.

I looked up at Soren as his eyes snapped to my face. There was a sheen of sweat over his porcelain skin, and his right hand looked raw. I sat up, leaving my left hand in his lap, and realized that I felt completely fine, which was weird.

"Is your hand okay?" I asked the little Sage, causing him to blush and the small crowd to laugh.

"What about _you_?" asked Titania. "How are you doing?"

"Um," I said, flexing my previously hurt arm. "I think I'm fine. My arm is totally healed. How'd you do that?"

"Well, Soren used the crystal from heal-staff to fix you up." said the red haired man. "Which was a stupid stunt to pull, by the way."

Soren looked down at his injured hand, avoiding the man's gaze and shrugging off his reprimand. He looked like a surly child.

"What else was I supposed to do? All I had was the crystal, and he was bleeding out. I didn't see you coming, Rhys, or I would have let you deal with it." he snapped.

The man called Rhys sighed and shook his head, taking Soren's injured hand and holding a staff over it. The staff issued the same blue light that Soren's crystal had, and, as I watched, the Sage's hand healed perfectly. Rather than bugging out, I decided to go with it and not question the miracle I had just witnessed, mainly because everyone else seemed chill with it.

After his hand was healed, Soren got to his feet and took off in the direction he had been heading before I hurt myself. I watched him go, wondering what had him in such a hurry. Then Kieran broke into my thoughts by calling my name.

"Hey, Zero! That was some quick thinking, using the recoil to change the arrow's flight. I commend you." he said, smiling and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm impressed by your reflexes." said the blunette commander, coming forward and extending his hand. "What was your name again?"

"Zero West. And you're Ike, right?" I said, taking the offered hand and pulling myself to my feet. "Nice to meet you."

We shook hands and Ike introduced the other people standing around us. Boyd, the Fighter with the axe grinned at me and gave me a manly clasp-hands-and-shoulder-bump thing, saying that he would spar with me anytime I wanted. I wasn't sure if I like him or not, but I smiled and nodded back at him. Oscar, Boyd's brother and Kieran's sparring partner, shook my hand and gave me a tentative smile, which I returned happily; I liked Oscar from the get-go. He seemed like a kind man. Rhys, the red-haired healer, actually bowed to me, which I waved off with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. I liked him, but he made me feel a little awkward, what with his bowing.

"Yes, we've met." said Shinnon when Ike tried to introduce us, his voice icy. He grabbed Rolf's arm and dragged the boy away. The little archer looked back at me and waved a bit before Shinnon swatted his hand out of the air and growled something I couldn't quite hear.

"Wow, what did you do to piss _him_ off?" asked Boyd, laughing.

"I'm not really sure." I lied, shrugging. Suddenly there was an awkward, appraising silence in which every eye was on me.

"Well, since this has become exceedingly awkward, I propose that we move on to a new topic." said Kieran.

"Ike, would you mind working with Zero for a while? He's interested in specializing in sword work." said Titania, following Kieran's lead.

"I can't." said the blunette, shrugging. "I've got a million things to do. But maybe Mia or Stephan could help him."

"What could I help who with?" asked a tall, green-haired man, popping up behind Ike.

After the introduction was made and the situation was explained, the big Swordmaster readily agreed to help me with my swordplay. The crowd dispersed, and Stephan handed me a sword. Almost an entire hour passed, and I was practically livid with myself by the time we stopped.

I was getting nowhere with the practice. No matter how quickly I moved, Stephan was faster, and I was feeling incredibly pathetic. I mean, shit, I was beginning to wonder if maybe a giant, sharpened pizza would be a better choice of weapon…

"Here's the thing, Zero," Stephan said, "Your attacks are fine, but your defense is horrible. Maybe we could get you a shield or something?"

"No way! I'm so not using a shield!" I snapped, surprising us both.

"Alright." he said, raising an eyebrow. "I've got a better idea."

* * *

Whew. Well, that's the second chapter. It's longer than the last one….and still no _real_ yaoi…am I disappointing you all?? I hope not…Z and Soren sort of have a moment…almost. And even though it's totally over-used, I just had to throw in the Rolf/Shinnon connection.

Heheh, GIANT SHARPENED PIZZA!

Does anyone want to request pairings??


	4. Chapter 3

Me: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading my fic! Yeah, third chapter!

Z: I don't like this chapter.

Me: Neither do I. Damn it Soren, why is it so hard to work around your cranky personality? Damn you for being so cold!!!!! . 

Soren: Then why did you pick me, fool?

Z: He didn't pick you, I did.

Soren: Gross.

Z: Hey, you'll want me soon enough...heh heh heh.

Me: Shut up Z. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it more than I do...

* * *

"Aw, fuck." I sighed, poking at the mound of goo on my plate. 

I growled at the thing and pushed it away, ignoring my stomach as it returned the sound. There was no way I was _that_ hungry. Ike's little sister, Mist, had happily spooned the shit onto my plate and called it "stew", but I don't think I've ever seen anything that looked less like the stew I was used to. The mercenaries had taken their plates of "stew" with a mundane sort of acceptance. Well, all the mercenaries except for Soren. He had come in, taken one look at the food on my plate, and snorted.

"Mist's cooking again, isn't she?" he snarled, glaring at Ike. "I told you not to let her do that anymore."

The blunette just shrugged and pointed to Oscar's empty seat.

"Oscar disappeared, so we didn't have any other choice. You obviously weren't around when Boyd and Mia cooked. Half the party had food poisoning." he said.

The little Sage had snorted and left. That had been almost an hour ago, and I still hadn't managed to pull together the courage to choke down my "stew". Everyone else had already left, and I was left alone in the mess hall.

I shivered, wishing that I had asked someone to get me a new shirt. Rhys had taken my old one, insisting on having it washed, which was probably a good idea, considering the amount of blood on the garment. Now I was only wearing an undershirt, which was also speckled with blood, but still wearable.

Finally, just as I was getting ready to eat the glop, my favorite Sage made another appearance. He slunk in and, when he noticed me, turned around and started to walk out again.

"Hey," I called. "Wait! Soren, wait!"

"What do you want?" he asked, turning back to face me.

"Whatcha doing back here?" I asked. "I thought you weren't hungry."

A ghost of a smile flickered over his pale face and he looked at my plate. "I see that you aren't hungry either."

"You got me." I said. "I don't know how everyone else choked this shit down!"

"Yes, they don't seem to care what they put in their mouths, so long as it doesn't affect their performance in the field." he said, nodding.

"So why are you back in here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Whenever Mist cooks, I feed myself." he admitted, looking away. "I have a delicate stomach."

I laughed, and he frowned at me, which made me laugh harder. "Sorry, sorry," I said, still grinning. "Do you want some help with whatever you're going to make?"

"Well, I suppose I could use your help." he said, turning and heading for a door in the mess hall's wall. "I assume you'll want to be fed, too?"

I smiled, and my stomach answered his question with a low snarl. He looked back over his shoulder at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Soren set me to work in the small kitchen, and we cooked in silence, except for the occasional order or warning. Soon enough, we each had a small bowl of cooked rice and a plate of steamed veggies and dried meat. It wasn't the most elaborate meal I ever seen, but it was certainly more appetizing than Mist's "stew". We ate in the kitchen, still not talking until we were both almost finished.

"Thank you for earlier." said the little Sage, startling me out my thoughts. "For taking an injury to spare me."

"Oh, you mean the arrow?" I asked, looking over at him. "Yeah, no problem. It was my fault for almost shooting you anyways. And thank _you_ for taking an injury to heal me."

He nodded and changed the subject.

"How did your training go? I heard a rumor that Stephan was teaching you something unconventional?" he said.

"Oh, yeah, he decided to teach me a technique using two swords because my defense was so bad. Yeah, I refused to use a shield, so he gave me another sword. It's pretty awesome." I said, getting excited just thinking about it.

Stephan had given me a pair of swords, one long and light, the other short and heavy. I was to hold the light sword, which he called a "slim sword", in my right hand for attacking, and the heavy sword, called an "iron sword", in my left hand for defense. My left hand was _still_ tired and shaky from the unaccustomed weight, and I had done poorly in our practice, but Stephan had assured me that mastery of my weaker hand would come in time. When we finally finished practicing, I had revised my previous thoughts about using a giant, sharpened pizza as a weapon rather than a sword. I was extremely excited about my new "toys".

Soren nodded again, and finished his dinner. Then he turned to me and gave me a hard look before sighing.

"Ike told me to let you know that we'll be rooming together." he said quickly. "All the other rooms are empty right now. We'll look for bedding for you tomorrow, so that you can have your own room, but until then you've got the bunk below mine."

"Alright," I said, secretly delighted. He was such a cute little snob.

I finished my dinner and washed my dishes in silence, still thinking about my new sword style. Feeling eyes on me, I turned and caught Soren looking at my face. He turned back to his dishes quickly, but I had caught the look and scrubbed my hand over my face, hoping that there wasn't food stuck to me or something. My fingers encountered nothing, so, being a little bit paranoid, I tried again and still found nothing.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked, worried. "What were you looking at?"

"No, it's nothing." he said automatically.

I scrubbed my hands over my face again and glanced over at him again. He was looking at me with a funny look on his face. It looked almost like he wanted to laugh at my antics. I gave him a nervous grin and unconsciously dragged my hand over my face for the millionth time.

"It's just," he said, deciding to humor me. "I've never seen anything like that before." He pointed to my lower lip.

"Oh, my snake bites?" I asked, grinning. "Yeah, I guess they're not exactly common around here, huh?"

"You got bit by a snake?" he asked, confused. "Would you like me to heal you?"

I started laughing and he looked at me like I was a freak.

"Sorry, sorry, there's no way you could have known." I laughed. "No, they're just piercings. They're, um, body art where I come from."

"Oh." he said, leaning towards me to get a better look. "So they go _through_ your lip? Doesn't that hurt?"

"Well, yeah, it hurt a little when I first got them, but I've had them for a while, so they don't hurt anymore." I explained, trying not to stare at him. I didn't want to freak him out.

"Could I…?" he asked, reaching towards me.

"Go ahead." I answered.

His long, slender fingers brushed my lower lip, and I shivered. It was all I could do to keep myself from flicking my tongue over his fingers. He ran his finger over my left hoop, and a hard-on hit me fast.

Usually I'm a very outgoing person, especially in sexual matters, but I knew that chasing Soren wasn't going to get me anywhere. Most likely, the only thing I would get out of trying something so early was some sort of magical smack-down. I'd seen him practicing with the Mage girl, Illyana, earlier, and there was no way that I was going to risk freaking him out. I had to hide my boner, and quick.

"Um, I've got to go." I said, jerking away from him and booking it, first out of the kitchen, and then right out of the mess hall.

I didn't stop running until I had gotten myself good and lost somewhere in the western wall. I looked around, trying to figure out how I was going to get back into known territory, and heard voices. I recognized Ike's voice quickly, but Ike's companion's voice was unfamiliar. They were speaking in low, intense tones, and Ike seemed to be on the defense about something.

Being the snoop I am, I snuck up to the corner and peeked around it, hoping to distract myself from my throbbing member. I could see Ike facing off against a young man who had about the same build as the commander. The guy had short, spiky, aqua hair and cat's ears poking out of a funky hat. He was actually pretty fricking hot.

"I don't see why you're being so defensive about this, Commander Ike." said the young man, putting his hands on his hips and lashing his long, aqua-furred tail. His extra appendage was still weird to me, but Ike had introduced me to a few other laguz in the group, so he didn't freak me out too badly.

"Ranulf, your kind looks down on…such pairings." answered Ike, sounding flustered. "I won't have you ostracized because of something so trivial."

"So my feelings are _trivial_?" snapped the laguz. "I don't need your protection, _commander_."

"You know that that's not what I meant," the beorc answered. "You hold such a high position in the Gallian forces, and I know that the king needs you. I can't let our feelings cause the loss of your job."

"_Our_ feelings?" repeated Ranulf, stepping closer to Ike. "So it _is_ our feelings, then? Not just _my_ feelings?"

Ike looked away, a flush creeping over his face. "Yes," he admitted. "But that doesn't change anything, Ranulf."

"Ike, I'm a big boy. I can make my own choices, and I can deal with the consequences. Besides, who needs to know? Neither of us can get pregnant, and if we're careful no one will even notice." said the laguz, taking advantage of Ike's embarrassment. "Come on, Ike."

Ranulf slowly advanced on the blushing commander, and, with a small shove, backed him into the wall. I stared at them as Ike's blue eyes rose to meet Ranulf's mismatched pair. I stayed only long enough to see the laguz lunge forward to crush their mouths together before turning and hauling ass back the way I had come.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I growled to myself, glaring down at my now painful erection. Why did my dick want to get me in trouble?

Seeing a doorway I recognized, I turned a corner and burst out onto the practice field. The cool night air hit me and I took several deep breaths before looking around. I was, of course, not alone.

I had found Oscar, our run away cook. He and Kieran were locked together in an extremely sexual way. The green-haired man stood front to back with the red-head, his face buried in his partner's neck. I could hear Kieran making small noises and begging for more. Oscar's right hand was roaming around under the red-head's shirt, while his left moved south.

"Shit," I snarled, booking it back into the fort and running down a random hall.

I was so busy making use of every swear word I knew that when I rounded then next corner, I ran straight into Titania. I slammed into her at top speed, throwing her into the wall and landing myself in a pile at her feet. The wind was knocked out of us both, and we just stayed in our respective positions for a moment, attempting to draw air back into our lungs.

"Damn, boy, what in hells name are you doing?" she gasped, looking down at me.

I just groaned and curled around my dick, which had hit the floor at a painful angle.

"Are you alright?" Titania asked, kneeling and trying to uncurl me.

I jerked away from her and rolled to my knees, staying hunched over in a way that I hoped hid my still erect member. "I'm fine. Where's Soren's room?" I asked, deciding that I needed to crash somewhere and hoping that the Sage wouldn't be there.

"Down that hall and to the right; it's the third door on the left." she said, pointing back the way had come. "Are you sure you're okay? I could get Rhys if you need him."

I shook my head and shuffled around on my knees before standing up and walking calmly back down the hall. The moment I turned the corner, I started running again, though I had a short way to go.

"Please don't let him be in there…" I begged quietly before bursting through the door.

The little Sage whirled to face me as the door to his room was pushed violently open. I stared at him openly, unable to control my eyes. He was stripped to the waist, the top of his robe hanging around his thin hips. Soren's pale torso was exposed, and I had a front-row view.

My nerve endings exploded with want, and I made a snap decision that had no base in reality. I advanced on him, and he backed away from me warily.

"What are you doing?" he asked, giving me a withering look.

I ignored the question and continued moving toward him with a single-minded desire; I want him, and I want him _now_.

* * *

::Author's Note: I'm switching over to Soren's point of view now, so don't get confused!:: 

The door slammed open, and the new recruit, Zero, burst into my room. I whirled to face him before remembering that I was naked to the waist. I started to pull my robe back up over my chest, but forgot about it when I glanced back over at him.

There wasn't actually anything different about him…He was still around six feet tall, with a mop of black hair that fell into his hazel eyes. A light tan was still visible over the skin I could see, and his build was still thin and wiry. I could even see his abs through his thin undershirt. None of this was different, and it took me a moment to decide what was different about him, other than the sexual aura he was throwing off in waves.

He was staring at me with a strange, almost frightening look in his eyes. I shot him my best glare, and waited for him to look away. He didn't; he actually took a step towards me. And that was when I noticed the bulge in his pants.

He started to walk towards me, his long legs eating up the space between us. I backed away from him, still glaring.

"What are you doing?" I snapped.

He ignored me and I felt my back hit the wall. He closed the distance between us, putting his hands on either side of my head. If I hadn't been so shocked, I probably would have attacked him with the tomb in my sash, but as it was, I just locked up.

Zero leaned into me, and I turned my face away from his at the last moment, only to cry out as a jet of air hit my ear. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him smirking. I gasped and bit my lip as he trailed his hands down the wall and onto my chest, brushing over my nipples. I felt coherent thought starting to leave me completely as something hot and wet flicked over my ear, and reached for my tomb.

"No," snapped the would-be Myrmidon, slapping the book out of my hand and grabbing my wrists.

He held both my hands above my head in one of his, using the other to pull our hips together. I could feel his erection, which was pressing against my stomach since he was a good seven inches taller than me. The aura he was throwing off was purely erotic, and I felt my own shaft rising to meet the occasion.

_Oh my god, what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

::Author's Note: Aaaaaaaand back to Zero:: 

I looked down at Soren with fevered eyes, trying to get him to look back at me. I could feel him shivering, and noticed that he finally had an erection of his own. Leaning in, I stuck my tongue in his ear and felt him jerk.

I looked back at him and met his eyes. And felt every trace of arousal leave me.

I let go of his wrists and let him slump to the floor, panting. Backing away, I went on autopilot.

"Which bunk is yours?" I asked, my voice toneless.

He didn't answer, but pointed to the lower bunk, refusing to look at me again.

"I'll be back later, then." I said, turning and walking out the still open door.

As I wander through the cold halls, I thought about the single tear I had seen running down his face. Crying always did turn me off.

* * *

Stupid Soren! Grrrr! He's so hard to work with...but did you all like the OscarXKieran and IkeXRanulf pairings??? Any other pairing you people want to request? And I'm sorry this chapter doesn't flow very well...I'll try harder next time...T.T... 


	5. Chapter 4

Thanks for waiting so long, everyone! And thank you ever so much to a specific reviewer. You gave me just the kick-start I needed to finish this one!

I had to make Zero (yes, he is a real person) write some of this because I didn't really know exactly what to put when it came to writing about myself! So props to him for a bit of it...

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, or "Outsiders", so yeah...and there's a bit of gay-bashing in this, so be ready.

Zero: "You're slow..."

Me: "Shut up."

Please enjoy!

P.S. Zero is bisexual, but I put that he's gay in the description to avoid confusion, since it's called "Memoirs of a **Gay**Boy". The gay part is refering to me, because I plan to do other stories for other themes with some of my other friends in them. It was bothering me, so I changed it. nbd, but w/e.

* * *

I wandered the stone halls aimlessly. What was _wrong_ with me? God, I was such a useless jerk. 

Finding an empty store room, I ducked in and closed the heavy wooden door behind me, shoving a barrel in front of it to keep out any unwanted visitors. The solitude was a blessing and a curse; I was now free to think about my actions in detail.

What if he told Ike? Would the blue haired commander kick me out? Would I be left homeless in this unfamiliar place? Or would the little Sage keep our…_encounter_…a secret? There were a million and one thoughts flying through my head. My breath was coming shorter and shorter in my chest, and I was becoming dizzy. Feeling the panic attack coming, I pulled my cell out of my pocket and hit the speed dial. Holding the phone up to my ear, I started to speak, but only heard static coming back at me. There was no one coming to pick me up, no bottle of little red pills to stop the flood of horror from washing over me.

In an attempt to ward of the panic attack, I thought desperately of my three best friends. Oriel, Haru, and Cherry…together we made up the "Fabulous Four", a nickname our freshman English teacher had given us. One gay, one lesbian, one straight, and one bisexual…be were an odd bunch. Oriel and his shaggy, black and purple hair, his straight edge life style, his funny little protective streak. Haru and her numerous tattoos, her black belt in judo, her enigmatic personality, and the way she liked to confuse people. Cherry and her resemblance to Cherry Valance from "Outsiders", her horrible taste in men, her modeling contract, her love of shoes.

But thinking of my friends only made me think of how worried they probably were. Oriel was probably frantic by now, as he always was when I did stupid things. Cherry would be angry at me, and Haru would pretend that she didn't care, even though they were both worried out of their minds. My father wouldn't even notice that I was gone until my friends told him, and then he would call my mother and blame her for my disappearance. She would cry, and then she would say that it was God's way of punishing me for liking boys _and_ girls. My sister would ignore the entire thing, just like she always did. Shale, Oriel's older brother, would get his friends to help search for me.

The panic attack hit me hard, and sobs wracked my body. I don't know how long I lay on that stone floor before the episode was over, leaving me feeling exhausted and hollow. I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion pull me into a fitful, dream ridden slumber.

"Z? Zero? Where are you?"

I could see and hear Oriel, but I couldn't make him aware of my presence.

"I'm not kidding anymore, Z. Get your ass out here."

I tried to tell him where I was, tried to call out to him. I tried to reach out and touch his shoulder, but I had no hands, had no voice.

I could tell that I was back home, and in my dad's apartment. The smell of lemon air fresheners hung heavy in the air and clung to everything.

"What are _you_ doing here, fag?" my father asked, coming out of the bathroom and spraying more of the lemony shit. "Get the fuck out of my house. Dustin isn't here."

"Mr. West, please!" said Oriel, trying to turn back to speak to my father as the man pushed him out the door. "Please! What happened to Zero? Do you know where he is?"

"He's not _here_, kid. I haven't seen him since he left for school. He didn't come home last night, alright?"

My dad pushed my best friend the rest of the way out the door and slammed it in his face. Rubbing his eyes, he turned away, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. As he punched in the number, he wandered down the narrow sidewalk, glancing around at the run-down neighborhood.

"Hey, it's me. You find anything?" he said when the phone connected. "No? What about Cherry?"

"Nothing, hun." said a tall girl with short red hair, who had just turned the corner. "He's not at his mom's place or my house."

"Hey, Cherry." he said, flipping his phone shut with a quick "goodbye" and leaning in for a hug.

"I mean, fuck! He never goes anywhere without telling _you_!"

"Yeah, I know."

I could see the strain showing on my friend's face, and struggled to comfort him, to tell him where I was. I failed, and felt my chest begin to ache as I watched his pain continue. The uselessness was killing me.

"I'm going to go check the park, and then Faye's house." said Cherry, standing on tiptoe to give him a peck on the cheek. "He'll be okay, hun. He always is."

"Of course." he said, patting her on the head. "I'm going to meet up with Zack and head uptown. Call me if you find anything."

She nodded and turned back the way she had come. Oriel made another call and waited for his boyfriend to find him. I watched him run his hands through his hair, a nervous habit he rarely displayed. I was almost relieved when Zack showed up, his black and red hair falling around his face rather than standing in its usual spikes. They hugged and headed in the opposite direction from where Cherry had gone.

Zack had the presence of mind to stay quiet, comforting his partner by taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. Oriel smiled slightly, and I relaxed a bit.

Suddenly, as they turned a corner, I felt apprehensive. They were going _uptown_ like that? Holding hands and publicly displaying their orientation? They must have been more out of it than I had previously though if they thought they'd get away with _that_.

_No! _I tried to warn them. _Don't! I'm right here! Don't go that way!_

Sure enough, three preps turned the corner in front of them and they were suddenly face to face.

Realizing his mistake, Oriel dropped Zack's hand and held up his own.

"Excuse me, we need to get by you." he said quietly. "We don't want any trouble."

"Sure, fag. Just get the fuck out of my way." laughed one of the preps.

Oriel nodded and backed against the wall to allow them to get by.

"What are you doing?" hissed Zack. "Are you really going to let him say that?"

"Just let it go." sighed Oriel, not looking at the jocks as they passed. "This isn't the best time for this."

"Fine. Just let the douche bags get away with it. Buncha' closet cases like that…Well, it's their own problem if they're too insecure to deal with it." said Zack, rolling his eyes and starting to walk away.

"What'd you just say about me, queer?" snapped one of the preps.

"You heard me." quipped Zack, snapping his bubble gum and continuing to walk down the sidewalk.

"Sorry, he didn't mean it. No harm, yeah?" said Oriel, backing away from the three young men, holding his hands up in surrender.

"No, I think he needs to face up like a man and take the beating he's asking for!"

"Oh, really?" answered Zack, turning on the blond who had made the jab. "You wanna' back that up, big guy?"

_Oh, God, no!_ I tried to cry. _Just let it go, Zack! Please, no…_

But that was the last straw for the preps. The big blond that Zack had been arguing with went at him, and they became a pair of whirling fists. One of the other preps, a brunette, followed his friend after Zack, but the other turned to Oriel, grinning. My friend is a martial artist, and he took care of his attacker with a well-placed kick, sending the jerk sprawling.

Suddenly there was blood everywhere. Oriel's nose was at a strange angle, blood pouring from it. He doubled over, holding his side and gasping. I could see Zack lying on the ground, unconscious, but I paid him no mind. My entire being was focused on my best friend.

_ORIEL! ORIEL! Get up! Run! Please!_

_

* * *

_

_ooooo..._clifhanger! lol.

This is a real scene, by the way. I really did get beat up by gay bashers! Stop the HOMOPHOBIA!!!!

Yeah...So, I'm sorry this is so short...T.T...I'll try to update faster this time...review, please! Tell me what you think Soren should do! And any more pairings people would like to see???

Plus, I'm now a beta reader! My editing is better than my writing, so if you need a beta, please ask me!


	6. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Still feeling a little sluggish…but better than last time, yeah? OH! And thank you to everyone who has read my fic! I hit 2000 views, and I'm totally stoked! AND I passed 30 reviews, which was the goal I set myself for the beginning!

Anyhoo, I have a few plugs to get out there:

1.) Lonely Yaoi Heart Needs Reviewers!

2.) I have an Oran High School Host Club fic out, if anyone wants to read it. (it's not very good, haha)

3.) I do plugs for free…(hint hint)

4.) I am officially a beta! I'd be more than happy to beta for anyone who is cool enough to R&R my stories!

Zero: "Shameless, you are."

Me: "Shuddup, Z."

Oh, and by the way, everyone, I know there have only been gay pairings so far, and that that's not normal, but I'll put in hetero and Yuri pairings soon, k? Just bear with me…

Oh, and Z did a bit of writing in this one, too. Thanks, Z. AND thanks to my ani-sama for letting me use his laptop when mine was having a temper-tantrum. Shale is the BEST big brother EVER.

Oh, and I will be doing plugs for all the stories I beta for in the next chapter.

* * *

"Hold him down. He'll hurt himself, thrashing around like that."

"Vulnery! I need a vulnery!"

"Stay back! Give Rhys space!"

"He's stopped moving…"

I could hear voices all around me, but the nonsensical nature of what they were saying puzzled me. Then I remembered what I had seen.

"Oriel!" I shouted, restarting the clamor around me.

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, panting. Strangely colored eyes looked back at me, some concerned, some irritated, some flat out afraid.

"Zero?" asked Titania, putting her hand on my forehead.

I looked around and realized that I had been moved to a room I didn't know. It looked like an infirmary of some sort, what with the shelves of basic medical gear adorning the walls. I could see most of the mercenaries that I knew, plus a few unfamiliar faces. Oscar and Ike were holding my arms down, which explained why I couldn't sit up. Ranulf and Kieran were also in the crowd, which reminded me of what I had seen transpire before the incident with Soren, who was absent from the group. I was almost disappointed by his absence, which was silly. Rhys was kneeling next to my bed, frowning at me.

"Zero, please. Are you alright?" asked Titania, turning my head towards her.

"I…" I faltered, not knowing what to say. "What's going on?"

"You were having fits. You're lucky you were found before you hurt yourself." she said, looking uneasy. "You don't remember it? At all?"

I looked around at them and shook my head slowly.

"I was dreaming about…stuff." I said, not meeting their eyes.

"Who's Oriel?" asked Rolf, who was leaning against the wall beside me.

I flinched and didn't answer. Instead, I shook off Ike and Oscar, sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The effort left me shaking, but I felt like some sort of spectacle with everyone watching me the way they were. Getting to my feet, I walked away from the small crowd and out the door. I managed to walk steadily for the most part, but, once I was out of sight, I sagged against the wall.

Fearing that one of them would come out to check on me, I started off down the hall, looking for something to tell me where I was. My stomach shifted, reminding me that my panic attacks usually came with bouts of nausea. Rubbing my eyes, I sighed. I was really starting to want to go home.

Looking around, I realized that I was almost to the mess hall and quickened my step. I really needed to sit down.

The mess hall was empty, which was a relief. I slumped into one of the chairs and put my head down on the table. Sighing, I thought of my dream. Was it real? A vision of some sort? Oriel and Haru were always babbling about how their dreams matched their lives, but I had never actually thought much of it before right then. If it was a vision, if Oriel really was hurt, then I needed to get home, pronto.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to calm down; I didn't need another panic attack. It was probably just another stupid dream. Just a really, really vivid dream…

"Are you feeling alright?" asked a familiar voice. "Would you like me to get Rhys for you again?"

My head snapped up at the sudden interruption of my thoughts, and I over compensated for the sudden shift in balance, practically throwing myself off the bench and onto the floor. Soren looked down at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Soren? I- no, I'm okay…" I said, rubbing the back of my head where it hit the table leg.

He gave a terse nod and turned to leave, his robes swirling.

"Soren," I called. "I'm sorry!"

He turned back and looked at me appraisingly, a frown tugging at his mouth.

"I totally understand if you want me to leave, okay? You don't have to tell anyone; I'll just leave." I said, standing up with the aid of the table. "I'm sorry I acted like an ass, though. I never meant to scare you or anything."

"I wasn't scared!" he snapped. "And you don't have to leave. Just keep your hands to yourself."

With that, he whirled away, stalking out of the room like an angry cat. His outburst reminded me that he couldn't have been much more than seventeen, which would make him a year my junior. In fact, most of the mercenaries were rather young, the youngest being either Mist or Rolf, both of whom were around fourteen.

I sighed and collapsed back against the table again. My muscles felt like jello. I had planned on going back to the room to crash, but my body felt otherwise, and I fell asleep right there.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

My sleep remained dreamless for the next few days, and I slowly convinced myself that my friends weren't really in any danger. The mercenaries began to forget about my outburst, or at least look at it as a bit of a joke, and I went back to being the awkward trainee. Stephan continued to teach me what to do with my dual swords, and I continued to grow more competent. Things were going relatively well, considering that I was mysteriously in some foreign area with no modern technology.

The only real problem was that Stephan had things to do other than teach me, and so I often found myself with nothing to do. I got myself in trouble pretty regularly, and I'm pretty sure that Soren was about ready to have Volke, the resident assassin, off me when Ike wasn't looking. The strange part was, everyone else seemed to have something to do all the time. And if they didn't, they'd go looking for something to do. I wasn't _that_ desperate for something to do…

Besides get in trouble, I liked to watch the mercenaries interact. There were some interesting pairs in the camp, and quite a few surprising ones. My early assumption that hetero was the way everyone swung was _way_ off. Not that the hetero pairs didn't outnumber the homo pairs, but there were a good number of the latter.

Obviously there were the Ike/Ranulf and Oscar/Kieran pairings that I had previously witnessed, both of which would have slipped under my radar if I hadn't actually seen them in action.

Shinon still gave me looks that said "I will kill you" whenever I was around Rolf, but their relationship puzzled me. At first I had thought that they were a pair, but none of the usual signs were present. The red headed sniper seemed to be more interested in protecting the little archer than getting into his pants. In fact, I'd seen Shinon acting a little more than _friendly_ with a big knight whose name I was unaware of.

But I digress. It was almost a week after my arrival when things got out of hand. I was out on the practice field, practicing using my left hand when the shit hit the fan.

Suddenly, everyone was running about like something was on fire. I grabbed Rhys as he trotted by, snagging the back of his robes and making him stumble a bit.

"What's going on?" I asked, giving him a hand to keep from falling.

"The bird laguz nobles just landed out front!" he said. "Come on!"

Before I could ask what _that_ meant, the healer was dragging me into the fort and through the halls. We stopped along the way to pick up Boyd and Mia, who were engaged in questionable activities in the mess hall, before continuing toward our destination. Soon we were in the West wing and my sense of direction was completely skewed.

"Rhys," I complained, "I don't know where we are! And what's the big deal about a couple of birds, anyways?"

Boyd and Mia gave me strange looks and started laughing. Rhys just shook his head and picked up the pace.

We were practically sprinting through the fort when we turned a corner too fast and, though Boyd managed to doge it, slammed into the people on the other side. I bounced off mine and landed in an undignified heap on the floor, while Boyd caught Mia and one of the biggest men I had ever seen supported Rhys.

I sat up, rubbing the back of my head, as a slender white hand came into my range of vision.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up and there, standing in front of me, was an Angel.

Yay!

Boyd/Mia is a pairing, just so that's all cleared up. And Shinon/Rolf is not. It's just a connection.

I''m pretty sure you all know who our "Angel" is...haha. Duh duh duh DUH! Yay for the bird laguz, who are my favorites!

Any more pairings, before they all get taken up? I need Hetero and Yuri pairings, too!

Thanks to my Pokemon-wielding friend for the interesting review

And to the rest of my reviewers: Thanks for helping me hit 30 reviews (though I'm almost to 40 now, haha)! You guys are great!


	7. Chapter 6

Yay, I'm totally excited, guys! I hit 40 reviews! Woot.

Thanks to everyone who's supported and stayed with me throughout this so far. I know I'm being slow and mildly pathetic, but hang in there! I've been sick (again) and really busy with makeup work. Forgive me….

As promised, there will be battle/prelude to battle in this chapter, and there's a possibility of serious blood and gore…plus, I think we've been far too long without any Yaoi! Tsk tsk, how could I do that to you for so long?

I'm afraid that I misinformed you when I said that I would be talking about the people I beta for. Sorry.

Zero is sick, and unable to give us any input, so his "endearing" little comments will not appear in this chapter.

Once again, thanks to my brother, Shale, for letting me use his computer. Mine is a brat…

* * *

Graceful, angelic; I couldn't look away from the woman in front of me. Her long blond hair, emerald eyes, snowy wings, and lean frame totally entranced me, and I haven't looked at a girl that way since…well, in a long time. The slender fingers of the hand she offered me twitched a little as I slowly put my hand in hers. I almost felt guilty letting her help me to my feet; she looked like a strong gust of wind would blow her to pieces.

"T-thank you…" I stammered, still staring at her. "Ah, did I run into you?"

"No, him. Reyson." she said, pointing to my left. Her English seemed shaky.

I looked over and died. Well, not really, but it felt like it, since I was in heaven. The beautiful woman's male counterpart was sitting on the floor, rubbing his arm and glaring at me.

"Oh…ah, I'm, uh…." I said, staring at him. "I'm sorry, here, let me help you."

He wrinkled his nose and pushed my hand away.

"Idiot beorc." he snapped, accepting the hand of a tall, black-winged man who pulled him to his feet and brushed him off.

"Now Reyson," the man said, smirking slightly. "Be nice. He didn't mean to knock you down."

The moody young man frowned and looked over at the huge man who was setting Rhys on his feet.

"Naesala's right. Don't be rude. He didn't mean it." laughed the man before turning to Rhys. "Are _you_ alright, little priest?"

"Oh, yes." he said, his hands fluttering in protest. "No harm done. It was my fault for running. I apologize for not being present at your reception, sirs. Madam."

The giant laguz waved the priest's apology aside, and a smug, almost mischievous look came over his face. He raised his eyebrow at Rhys, who looked like he was trying to see around the man without being obvious.

"Looking for someone?" asked the man, flexing his large, brown wings.

A dark flush spread over the redhead's face, clashing atrociously with his hair. "N-no!" he exclaimed, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"He's not here, priestling." said Naesala. "Tibarn left him and Janaff back at Castle Phoenicis."

"I don't know _who_ you could be talking about!" protested Rhys, his face inventing a new shade of red.

"_Who's_ supposed to be nice?" asked Reyson, his voice innocent.

I rolled my eyes and snorted; he sounded like Soren. The white-winged man's eyes snapped to me, and the look on his face could have curdled milk.

"Do you have something to say, _beorc_?" he snarled.

I grinned at him, finding his fierceness funny.

"Nothing, nothing," I replied. "I was just thinking about how you're like Soren."

"_Pardon?_" he replied, looking disgusted. "That nasty little half-breed? We are nothing alike."

I covered my mouth and waved away his outburst, mainly to keep from laughing. The huge man and Naesala were snickering, too, and Boyd and Mia had lost it a while back. Rhys seemed to be glad that he wasn't in the spotlight anymore, but he also looked worried about what had replaced him. Reyson looked ready to punch something, and I felt a pang of guilt for getting him so mad after just meeting him. I just couldn't help myself; he was so _fine_ when he was glaring at me…I still wonder why I'm attracted to that type. It's a mildly masochistic tendency, but you can't help who you want, right?

"We are nothing alike!" Reyson insisted, glaring at the other laguz. "How are we in any way similar? Tell me!"

"Well, you're both cranky and overly defensive." I offered, watching his fury build.

"_And_ you'd both be real handsome if you'd stop _frowning_ all the time!" supplied Mia, voicing the rest of my opinion on the matter.

I shrugged and grinned as he looked to Naesala and the huge man for support, but found none. His angelic face shifted from a mask of fury into an adorable sulk. The angel girl tugged at his sleeve, but he didn't look at her.

"Who are you, anyways?" asked the huge man, obviously changing the subject. "I've never seen you before."

"I could say the same thing to you," I said, feeling bold. "But I'm Zero. I'm new."

"I'm Tibarn. You've met Reyson, but this is his sister, Leanne. And the Crow is Naesala." he replied, pointing out each person in turn. He seemed amused by my impertinence, rather than offended, which was good; he looked like he ate people my size for breakfast, and I'm not that small.

"Tibarn!" called Ranulf, poking his head out of a door in the hall behind us. "Ike wants to talk to you all."

Tibarn jogged over to the door without a backwards glance, disappearing into the chamber. Naesala nodded to us before following him, dragging Reyson behind him. Leanne followed them, and we were alone in the hall.

"I can't believe you got in a fight with Prince Reyson right off the bat." said Mia, grinning. "And then you said that to King Tibarn…"

"Huh?" I asked, taken aback. "_Prince _Reyson? _King _Tibarn?"

Boyd burst out laughing, slapping his knee and holding his sides. Mia giggled. Rhys sighed.

"I should have warned you." said Rhys, running his hands through his hair. "They're royalty. Tibarn, King of the Phoenicis Hawks. Naesala, King of the Kilvas Ravens. Prince Reyson and Princess Leanne of the Serenes Herons."

"You're lucky you're cute," sniggered Mia, "Tibarn's usually so protective of Reyson."

My mind was totally blank. I was having real trouble processing what had just happened.

"So, Rhys…" said Boyd, scratching his head. "What was the Crow talking about earlier?"

Rhys stopped shaking his head at me and froze, color rising in his face again. My brain began to function again with this new topic and I became interested in Naesala's words. I looked over at the priest expectantly, and Mia laughed.

"Boyd, you idiot." she said, smirking. "Can't you tell he was looking for a certain _someone_?"

The look that passed over Boyd's face suggested that his proverbial light bulb had been lit, and a sly smirk plastered itself over his mouth. It was frightening how similar he and Mia looked.

Then, after watching Boyd's recognition, I began to piece the situation together. Rhys, more flustered than I'd ever seen him, sprinting down the halls to find the birds, Rhys looking around for someone that the Crow King had said wasn't there…

"You've got a girlfriend you haven't told me about, Rhys?" I asked, pretending to be hurt. "You'll have to tell me about her!"

A look of horror found its way onto the priest's face and my light joking suddenly seemed much more akin to mean-spirited bullying. Mia and Boyd, of course, were both laughing their carcasses off against the wall. Rhys muttered something and his face invented a new shade of red.

"What?" I asked, leaning towards him. "What'd you say?'

"H…H-him…" stammered the redhead. "Him."

I was dumbfounded. Who'da thunk the mercenaries were so gay-friendly?

* * *

…Though that may just be the fault of the author…sweatdrop

And, of course, kudos to my mildly schizophrenic reviewer…_what_ would I do without you…sweatdrop

Damnit, I totally meant for there to be nudity and battle prelude and more diverse pairings in this chapter…perhaps I could blame it on my impatient reviewers…or maybe I could just give up and admit to the fact that I'm moody and horridly slow…

Oh, and a big F-YOU to the readers who put me on their "favorite authors" or "favorite stories" but don't review!! How can you expect me to be motivated without your input?? Even if it's just "here, I reviewed" it's better than nothing!! Gah!

Oh, and Mask-chan! Figured I'd give you a shout-out! Haha…

If you all like this story, you should hit me up on FictionPress. com and review my stories there! 333

Forgive the blurring of PoR and Radiant Dawn…sigh

SHORTEST CHAPTER EVER!! GAHHHHH!! the next one will be at LEAST 2000 words!!


	8. Chapter 7

Fifty!! Fifty reviews!! I love you all.

Z says hi…apparently he has mono, so he's all cooped up at home…not a word, mask-chan. not a word.

And, thanks to my brother, Shale, for not killing me when I broke the keyboard of his computer…

* * *

I was graced by an unexpected guest later that day. I was skulking around the practice field when the Crow King, Naesala, sauntered out of the fort. He stood against the wall for a while, watching the sparring mercenaries; when his gaze fell on me, I felt as if I was slacking off. In truth, I was waiting for one of the company's swordsmen (or women) to become available, but the way he looked at me poked a gaping hole in my ego.

"Ah, the boy from before." he said, coming over to where I was sitting against the wall. "Zero, wasn't it?"

I looked up at him and grinned nervously. Remembering my performance from before made me feel foolish. I had always been impulsive, but I was rarely childish, and I disliked the feeling it gave me.

"You know, you really got Reyson into a snit. He's _still_ being muttering about how obnoxious you are!"

Being the fool I was, I just sat there against the wall, feeling mortified. Something must have shown on my face, because the Crow King snorted and leaned against my wall.

"Don't worry; no one's mad at you. We all know how much fun it is to push his buttons." he laughed, making me grin a bit. "It was quite amusing when you compared him to the mage. I hadn't noticed the similarities in their traits until you mentioned it."

"I just can't help myself around people like them! I always end up making them mad…" I complained, getting to my feet and stretching. "Soren's at the end of his rope with me as it is, you know?"

"I believe that!" he smirked. We stood against the wall and surveyed the combatants. It was interesting to watch their movements and see how they reacted to different situations.

As we watched, a pink-haired girl on a winged horse jabbed a redheaded mage in the shoulder with her lance, earning a snarl from a nearby laguz. A green haired boy of the same age as the injured mage started shouting and supported his injured friend as the angry laguz rushed off towards the fort. It took him less than a second to come sprinting back onto the field, toting a frazzled looking Rhys. I laughed as the overworked healer scrambled to mend the mage's shoulder even as pandemonium raged around him.

Seeing the Priest reminded me of my earlier conversation with Rhys. He had run off looking embarrassed before I could get any real answers out of him, and Mia and Boyd had refused to let me in on the joke. They had spouted some rubbish about not sticking my nose in other people's business before wandering off. I had thought about following them, but had decided against it; no need to interrupt whatever nasty thing they were doing…

"Um, Naes- I mean, er, King-" I started, trying to decide how to address him, now that I knew he was a king.

"You can call me Naesala. Or, if you prefer, King Kilvas." he said, still looking out over the practice field.

"Yeah, thanks. So, what was up with Rhys earlier?" I asked. "Who's this guy everyone's teasing Rhys about?"

The Crow King had been yawning when I finally managed to articulate my question, and practically choked on his own breath. He was actually laughing, rather than the amused snicker he had previously issued.

"Oh, I had forgotten all about that!" he said, glancing over at me. "His name is Ulki. He's one of Tibarn's men."

"A laguz?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

He nodded, smirking again. I coughed, hoping to get more information, but the Crow King wasn't volunteering any.

"So," I said slowly, "He's not here with you, right?"

Naesala shook his head and gave me a sidelong look that clearly said 'why the hell do you want to know', so I shut up. He threw me a second glance that I didn't quite catch the meaning of before yawning again and flexing his huge wings.

"Where are you from?" he asked, leaning against the wall again. "Your accent is unfamiliar to me."

"I'm from Washington." I answered. "Olympia, to be precise, but my dad keeps hinting that we're going to move again. I think it's going to be to Oregon this time. Maybe even California."

"Where? Is that somewhere in Begnion? Or maybe Daein?" queried the Crow King, frowning and turning to look at me directly.

"What?" I answered, totally confused. "Where? What continent is this?"

"Tellius," he said, giving me a slow look. "Are you saying you're from a different continent?"

"Well, I'm not from any place called Tellius, that's for sure. I'm from the U.S….you know, in North America?"

The Crow King just stared at me, and I wondered what was going on. I had thought that we were somewhere in the U.S., since everyone spoke English, but now I wondered if we were even on the same continent. I'd never heard of Tellius before, and, though I'd never been very good at history or geography, I figured that if it was an entire continent I'd have at least _heard_ of it. I looked around and wondered for the first time where exactly I had ended up.

Just as Naesala seemed about to say something, Mist sauntered out onto the field and rang a large bell, signaling that it was dinner time. The Crow King and I shared a look before following the crowd into the fort. Oscar was cooking again, which meant that everyone would be clamoring for their share, and I had no intention of skipping dinner.

We went through the food line in silence, scooping large quantities of steaming soup and potatoes onto our plates. When we came to the end of the line, we stayed together and started to sit down at a table, intending to continue our conversation, when Reyson swept by and accosted Naesala.

"I am _not _sitting with _him_." the Heron Prince snapped, refusing to look at me.

The Crow King shrugged and smirked, and allowed the irate Prince to drag him away.

"We'll have to continue this conversation later," he called over his shoulder.

I grinned halfheartedly and mentally berated myself for my earlier actions. I hadn't meant to make him _hate_ me; I was just teasing him a bit. Why did all the pretty ones hate me? Check that, why did I _make_ all the pretty ones hate me?

"What's wrong with you now?" asked Soren, who was suddenly sitting across from me. "What did you do?"

"What?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts. "What are you talking about?"

"You look guilty, and I'd rather hear what you've done now so I can clean it up quickly." he said, sighing. "So what did you do?"

I stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. Was he really so worried that I was going to mess something up that he was keeping tabs on me? From the resigned look on his face, I could tell he was.

"Nothing yet," I laughed, "But I did manage to make the Heron Prince angry at me."

"Prince Reyson?" said Ike, sitting down next to Soren. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you did."

"I'll bite. What'd you do?" Ranulf grinned, plopping down next to Ike.

I smiled sheepishly and told them what I'd done. Ranulf laughed so hard his eyes watered, and Ike hid his smile behind his hand. Titania, who had come to our table while I was telling my story laughed lightly. I looked over at Soren and started laughing myself; he was sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

"_Me_?" he asked, sounding shocked. "You compared Prince Reyson to _me_?"

"What's wrong, Soren?" asked Boyd, who had come to the table with Titania. "Embarrassed?"

"How utterly ridiculous." the Sage snorted, he face refusing to betray his thoughts. "We are nothing alike. Neither our physical appearances nor our mental traits share more than fleeting similarities."

"I said it before, and I'll say it again," crowed Mia, who I hadn't even seen come in, but was suddenly at Boyd's side. "You're both surly, cranky, and rude, but totally gorgeous! If you'd smile rather than frown, you'd have half the continent head over heels for you by now!"

"I have no need to charm the inhabitants of Tellius, Mia. My job requires that I manage the general workings of the Greil Mercenaries, nothing more. My physical traits do not work to benefit me in any way in my current occupation, so why worry about them?" he stated bluntly, tossing me a quick glance that I doubt anyone else noticed. "Prince Reyson of Serenes may be in position where he can gain support by flaunting his looks, but I am not, and so 'beauty' is inconsequential."

Mia looked thoroughly subdued by Soren's tirade, but Boyd stepped in to fill her place. They continued the conversation, Boyd recalling small bits of the scene I had caused earlier, and Soren shooting his arguments down with cold logic. Eventually Mia regained her usual boisterous attitude and rejoined the conversation. Some of the others would occasionally throw in small comments to egg them on, but it was mostly just the three of them.

"You even reacted in the same way!" argued Mia. "Well, except that he called you a…what was it?"

"'A nasty little half-breed', I think it was." laughed Boyd, slapping his knee. "Right?"

"Exactly!" snorted Mia, turning to evaluate Soren's response. "Ha! Look at him! We got him this time."

I looked back over at the little Sage and blanched.

The look on his face was akin to the shattered expression he had had on his face when I attempted to…well, you remember chapter three, right? So let's not go there…

Anyways, once I saw the desperate look creeping onto his face, I knew I had to get everyone's attention off of him. I looked around wildly, my protective instincts going into overdrive.

"Commander Ike, Tibarn would like a word with you, if that's alright." said Reyson, somehow slipping into the group and placing his hand on the blunette's shoulder.

At first, I thought that Reyson's appearance would cause a shift in the group's attention, but the only ones who even seemed to notice the blond's presence were Ike and Ranulf. I scrambled to decide what to do, casting around for an easy way to get Soren's face to unfreeze.

Then, suddenly, that horrible little voice in my mind reminded me how interested everyone was in my relationship with the Heron Prince, reminded me that the quickest way to get someone's attention was to cause a scene. I stood.

"Reeeyson!" I sang, prancing over to him and linking our arms. The entire table turned their attention to us.

"What do you think you're doing, human?" he snarled, attempting to shake me off. "Let go."

"Oh, I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I was rude." I said, forcing myself to look anywhere but at Soren.

"Get away. You're insane." he replied coldly, still trying to get me off his arm.

"Come on, I'm not _that_ crazy!" I said, still smiling brightly. "Let's be friends!"

I had barely got the invitation out of my mouth when the Heron Prince surprised me by socking me in the chest. It didn't hurt, but I let him go anyways. Giving me a look that just about froze my blood, he turned to Ike, nodded, and booked it back over to where Tibarn and Naesala were sitting.

Letting the air out of my lungs in a sigh of embarrassment and relief, I allowed myself to look back over at the table. Soren was gone, and everyone was staring at me. I shrugged and grinned, and Mia burst into laughter. The rest of my audience followed suit as I sat down to finish my meal. Mission accomplished, I suppose.

I ate the rest of my meal in relative silence, grinning and making cracks about Reyson only when I had to. My mind was still working furiously as I attempted to determine the reason for Soren's little episode. I finally found that I had run out of food, and stood to put my plates in the bin for whoever was on cleanup duty.

When I looked up from my plates, I could see Naesala standing by the door, watching me. I gave him a small wave and dumped my plates.

"So," he said once I caught up with him, "What exactly did you think you were going to accomplish with that little scene?"

"I was, uh, being friendly?" I laugh, shrugging. The crow king rolls his eyes, but doesn't comment on my obvious cover up.

As we walk down the main hall of the western wing, we resumed our earlier conversation. Through we both tried our best to communicate, I'm fairly sure all we accomplished was to confuse each other further. I would mention a city, state, or country, and he would respond with a shrug or a shake of his head. The places he referred to all had strange names the sounded like something straight out of Lord of the rings.

"Alright. This isn't going anywhere." I said, rubbing my eyes. "Do you have a map or something?"

"I'm sure Ike has one in the planning room. Let's go there, since I'm supposed to attend a meeting there later anyway." he said, nodding.

Funny how life works, don't you think? Right as we turned the corner and the planning room was in sight, a loud, feminine scream permeated the air. Masculine shouts followed the scream and a door to our left burst open. Naesala and I could only stare in shock as Reyson scrambled through the door, completely naked.

All of his usual grace seemed to have left him as he stumbled and fell, landing in a sprawling tangle of wings and limbs. The Heron Princess, Leanne, came flying (not literally) out off the room and barely missed tripping over her floored brother. _She_ was clothed. Tibarn, however, was not as he followed the princess out of the room and grabbed her wrist. They were both shouting in a foreign language.

"Holly shit…" breathed Naesala, his eyes wide. I barely glance at him before looking back to the scene in front of me.

It looked like Tibarn, who was only wearing his trousers, was trying to calm Leanne down. Leanne, however, was having none of it. She was yelling and talking so quickly I couldn't even pick up nuances from her speech. She was _pissed_. Her angelic features were twisted with anger and sorrow. She yanked her wrist away from the Hawk King and pointed at her disheveled brother, who was looking up at her from the floor. Then she let fly something that sounded like a nasty string of curses and started to take off down the hall. Again, the Hawk King grabbed her arm; this time she turned and slapped him across the face.

There was a moment of stunned silence as Leanne ran down the hall. Tibarn was the first to react, and ran after her, which left Naesala, Reyson, and I in the hall.

"What the _hell_ happened, Reyson?" asked Naesala, breaking the silence.

The naked Heron Prince pulled his huge, white wings around himself and put his back against the wall. I could see one of his feet sticking out from under a large primary feather. He was biting his lip rather fiercely as he shrugged and looked guiltily up at the Crow King.

"Never mind. I know what happened. I heard Leanne." said Naesala, his voice icy.

And what do you know, he stormed off, too.

And then there were two; one sheepish-looking Heron Prince, and one thoroughly confused, entirely out of place eighteen year old. Great.

"Um, how pissed would you be if I asked what just happened?" I asked, looking studiously up at the ceiling.

A long moment of silence passed before Reyson looked up at me from under a fringe of blond hair and heaved a deep sigh. "She caught us doing something she wasn't expecting." he said, giving me a look that dared me to make a comment.

"Oooh, bummer, dude." I say, taking a step closer and squatting down to his level. "What was she saying?"

"Things like 'I can't believe you'd do this to me', 'That's my brother', and 'You disgust me'." he muttered, still meeting my eyes with his surly gaze. "I feel sick."

I sigh and tilt my head a bit. "Well, sitting out here won't make you any healthier. Wanna move?"

"Why are _you_ even here?" he asked, glaring. "Are you trying to sleep with Naesala?"

I can only stare at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. Waving in dismissal with one hand, I chuckle behind the other until the Heron Prince snapped.

"What the hell is your problem?" he snarled, suddenly standing in a flurry of feathers and giving me what I must say was an amazing view of his naughty bits. "You _are_, aren't you?"

"No, no!" I protest, taking a good look at what was in front of me. "Not at all, Mr. Jealous."

"I am _not_ jealous, you pervert!" he continues, his tirade becoming louder and more fervent by the moment. "You're sick! I see what you're looking at down there! Well, take a good look, since you'll never EVER see it again!"

"Oh, come one. I only need to see it once, dear. I'm not big on commitment." I said, giving him my patented "you know you want it" look and running my hand up his leg.

"What do you think you're doing? Get away from me!" he snapped, trying to back away. "This isn't funny, and I-"

I looked up when his angry protests suddenly cut off, and saw Soren standing at the end of the hall. The little Sage's eyes were huge as he stared at the scene we presented. I shot to my feet and took about four steps back. When I looked back over at him his face had completely changed; now he merely looked annoyed.

"Zero," he said, walking down the hall to where Reyson and I were standing. "Please don't debauch the guests. Reyson, Tibarn asked me to get this for you."

He tossed a bundle of clothes to the embarrassed prince and crossed his arms over his chest. A chilly silence seemed to emanate from his body, making me feel even more awkward as Reyson stepped into his new duds.

"_Prince_ Reyson, Commander Ike and King Tibarn would like to see you in the planning room." said Soren, his voice a dull monotone. "Naesala, for whatever reason, wants you to come, too, Zero."

I nodded and we both followed the little Sage when he turned and started walking down the hall. We didn't have far to go, since the planning room was only a few doors down, but it seemed like the walk took years.

"Zero?" said Ike when we entered the room. "Why are you here?"

"I requested his presence." said Naesala, standing and making his way over to the door. "I wanted to show him a map."

"There's one on that wall." said the Commander, waving absently. "Now can we please get on with this?"

As the big wigs got down to business with their thing-thang, I studied the map in front of me and felt my jaw drop; I'd never seen anything like it. The land mass was completely foreign. While I was busy staring at the wall-map, the group behind me had broken out into a cacophony of argument. The noise they were making snapped me back to the present and I snuck over to where Soren was sitting.

"What the hell's going on?" I asked, looking down at him. He looked _pissed_.

"Go away, pervert." he snapped, never taking his eyes off the arguing group. I backed off. I guess he was still pissed about the hall scene.

I made my way over to where Titania was sitting with her head in her hands.

"What's going on?" I asked, beginning to feel a bit nosy.

"The Bird Tribes are requesting our aid. They want to make an attack on Begnion."

* * *

Weeeellll…that was bad…dear god, someone give me inspiration!! blehhhh…


	9. Chapter 8

**Woah...an update? To this story? It couldn't be...**

**But seriously, here it is. I know how long it's been coming. I have no excuses.**

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

"War?" I said, taken aback.

"With Begnion." Titania repeated before turning back to face the table.

I could see that she wanted to get back to the conversation, so I stood and quickly excused myself from the room. Once outside the war chamber I crossed to the opposite side of the corridor and sat against the wall.

War? What would they expect from me in this war? I'd basically been freeloading under the pretense of training since the morning I found myself on the field; I'd never thought I would actually have to _fight_ someone. War meant too many things. It meant I would have to leave the safety of the base, it meant I would actually have to kill someone with the double blades I'd been so meaninglessly swinging on the practice field.

But on the other hand, how could I do anything _but_ go with the mercenaries, wherever they went? They fed me, clothed me, gave me a place to sleep, took care of me, and even trained me, all without asking anything of me. I'd have to be a real bastard to up and leave when they might actually have a use for me.

With all this craziness I've been ignoring the most pressing matter of all; how the hell am I going to get home? Every time I've gone to sleep since I got here I've wondered if I'll wake up back home. And that map…it doesn't look like any landmass I've ever seen before.

What about my friends? I've been here for so long, and so much has happened. I can't keep saying it's a dream anymore; it's just not possible. Oriel's probably sending the police a missing person's report, if he's not dead or in a hospital somewhere. I'd never forgive myself if he got hurt and I wasn't there to help him.

I ran my hands over my face for what must have been the millionth time. I wanted to scream my frustration to the empty halls, but I've never been one to participate in useless acts of anger, so I sigh instead.

When the door to the war room finally opened I snapped my head up. I expected the whole group of bigwigs to come spilling out, but it was just Titania and Soren. I stood and the little Sage glared at me.

"Why are _you_ still here?" he snarls. Titania looks over at him, surprised, and I can't help but feel a little hurt.

"Soren," says the red haired paladin, ignoring his outburst, "You get the practice field, mess hall, and rec rooms. I'll take Zero and the individual rooms."

He doesn't even acknowledge her, turning on his heal and heading in the direction of the mess hall. Titania sighs, but turns to me and smiles.

"Would you mind helping me gather the rest of the company? Ike called a meeting."

I nod.

We walk down the hall, opening doors and telling the mercenaries we found to gather in the war room. At first I found it slightly strange that no one asked the reason for the meeting, but then I realized that the excitement of news like this must dull when it was all just part of the job.

Soon we were all gathered in the meeting room, which I hadn't thought would be big enough, but just barely was. Ike was pacing in front of the big table, looking around at everyone. Soren stood by the commander, on his right, while Titania took the left. I was crushed in between Boyd and a big tiger laguz called Muriam.

"Alright, mercenaries," said Ike, stopping his pacing to stand at the head of the table, "We have been faced with a proposition. The bird tribes have requested our aid in an attack on Begnion. If we join them, we will be fighting to reclaim the Serenes forest from the empire, a task that will not be easily accomplished. I ask that you join me in this venture, and that you help me fight against the injustice that the Heron people have suffered. If you do not want to fight, I will not stop you from leaving."

I didn't really know what he was talking about, but I had long since decided that, whatever the fight might be, I would follow Ike and his mercenaries into it. I owed them for their help, and, even if I didn't, I wanted to spend my time in this foreign land doing something worthwhile, and anything the Greil Mercenaries did had to be just.

Everyone else seemed to agree on this point, and let out a savage roar of agreement. I joined the shout, and watched as Ike's eyes lit with the fire of battle; he was ready to lead us to war, and he would win. There were no doubts in my mind about that.

I looked over to where Soren was standing, and was surprised by the look of bitter hostility on his face. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I was too far away, and then orders started flying through the air.

I was placed in a group with Rhys, Rolf, Mia, Illyana, Calill, Marcia, Nephenee, and Mist, and we were ordered to get together the supplies needed by the healers and mages. We worked hard and fast, as did everyone else, and I was surprised to find that we were done before night fell. Just as the sun was starting to think about setting, we were ordered to eat, pack our own belongings, get a good night's sleep, and to be ready to roll in the morning.

Dinner was strangely quiet, as if everyone was thinking about how tomorrow would be, and I finished and headed back to the room quickly. Soren was absent, probably still helping someone with some preparation for the morning, so I flopped down in my bunk and tried to sleep. I tossed and turned for something like a half hour before giving up and staring into the dark; I was too tense, to riled up.

With a sigh, I made an executive decision to whack off to let off some steam. It wasn't hard; all I had to do was think of one of the many beautiful bishounen in camp and my dick would react instantly. It had been so long since I'd gotten any real action that I was starting to wonder if blue balls could cause any really lasting damage. That night, I borrowed the image of what I thought was going on before Leanne walked in on the Hawk King and the Heron Prince. It was easy to picture, since I had seen them both relatively naked. Reyson was so pretty, and Tibarn, though I'm not usually one for the rippling muscles etc., is a frickin' god.

I was just getting to the part where my breath comes hard and fast and I can hardly control myself when Soren's angry, possibly hurt face popped into my head. All I could think about is what he must have thought when he saw me playing around with the Heron Prince. Was he surprised? Did it embarrass him, or hurt his feelings? Was he jealous?

Out of these unsexy thoughts blooms the idea that maybe he _was_ jealous, which sparks my lust back into being, and I end up orgasming to the thought of the little sage letting me have my way with him.

Sweaty, and sticky with cum, I lay still, reveling in the release. The door opened, and the object of my sexual fantasy came in, looking tired and thoroughly worn out. The high lip of the top bunk ensured that he didn't see my dick still hanging out, but I put it away anyways, and hoped that he didn't smell or somehow sense what I was doing.

"You look tired," I stated, leaning over to peer at him.

He gave me a jaded look before starting to slip out of the outer layer of his robes.

"I am tired," he replied, "My position requires that I do _hard_ work."

I winced. "Sorry. Could I help you with something tomorrow? To lighten the work load?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, now in only his under-robe, which is merely a light cotton thing with long sleeves, moving over to his small desk.

"You are already assigned to a team. You have work to do." he said, turning his back to me to rearrange and pack his many books and tombs.

"They don't really need me," I argued, "I don't know enough about moving the group to do much except for carrying things and following orders."

He sighed again. "Rhys will have orders for you in the morning."

"I would rather follow your orders."

The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them, and Soren turned to look blankly up at me. His eyes had something in them, though, and I couldn't help but continue.

"I'm sorry about today," I said, "With Rayson. I was just playing around."

He flushed and turned away. "Your idea of 'play' is vulgar."

"I wasn't trying to make you mad. Or embarrass you. Or hurt your feelings."

He was silent, and returned to dealing with his books.

"Please don't be angry with me."

Without turning around, he answered me. "I am not angry."

I smiled, glad to have this conformation.

"But," he said, whipping around to look sternly up at me, "Don't do that again. As beautiful as you may find the Heron, a tryst with him is not worth the consequences. Do not endanger our relations with the Laguz Bird tribes."

He stood for a moment, frowning at me, before adding an afterthought.

"Also, I do not wish to have to clean bits of you off the floor after the Hawk King is done with you if he finds out what you did."

For a moment, I did not know what to do. Then, I burst into laughter. The idea of having Tibarn angry with me was far from funny, but the way the little sage had reprimanded me was too much. He even allowed himself a small smile before turning back to finish his packing. I just sat and watched him for a time, waiting for the courage to speak again.

"Hey, Soren?" I finally said, "Please don't take this the wrong way, or respond yet. I just want you to think about what I'm going to say, alright?"

He stopped moving, not saying anything or turning to look at me.

"I'd like to kiss you some time. I won't force you or anything, if you don't want it, but please think about it."

For a long time, we just sat there, neither of us saying anything. Finally, he sighed and spoke.

"Go to bed," he advised, "Tomorrow is going to come too soon."

I followed his orders, but couldn't help but start laughing again at what he muttered next.

"And don't think I don't know what you were doing up there. You're disgusting."

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

**So, there it is. I know it's not worth the wait. I hope to work some sex in soon. And I'm not expecting any reviews, but thank you to anyone who is still bothering to read this after so long.**


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